Kelly Link interview

At Return of the Reluctant, Bondgirl interviews Kelly Link. It's a fun little interview and a good introduction to her if you don't know her work. Link's collection "Stranger Things Happen" is terrific. I've been taking my time getting through it, reading a story here and there, now and then. In the interview, Link says she will have a second collection out by next summer. It will include a story called "Some Zombie Contingency Plans." I can't wait to see her take on zombies. In the meantime there's this:

Gwenda: So, what’s your zombie contingency plan?

Kelly: In all situations, I like to ask myself: What would Jackie Chan do? Not because I have any sort of Jackie Chan skills, but because it's soothing to contemplate an imaginary Jackie Chan in imaginary action, kicking imaginary ass, zombie or otherwise. More usefully, what Jackie Chan does is improvise, using objects at hand. So we have a pantry with a lot of different kinds of jam, and some Lyle's Golden Syrup, as well as a lot of heavy, tall bookshelves, and several interesting fireworks, such as The Titanic, and The Naughty Elephant. There's also a lawnmower in the garage, and I've seen Peter Jackson's Dead Alive at least five or six times.

So although I'm not wedded to any kind of plan, I'm prepared to improvise ferociously.

Link and her husband, Gavin Grant, have also co-edited the fantasy half of the 17th annual Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, which is a terrific book and something everyone should be buying every year.
I got to say, I love this trend of bloggers interviewing writers. Maud Newton and The Mumpsimus have done a few as have others. It seems the latest evolution in lit blogs.

UPDATE: Bondgirl is having a "interviewapaschmooza." She has followed up her Link interview with an interview with Scott Westerfeld.